Improvement in knitting-machines



UNITED STATES PTENT OFFICE.

JOHN THORNTON, JAMES THORNTONAND WTLLIAM THORNTON, OF NOT muisarm,y ENGLAND, A'ssIGNORs To MARTIN LANDENBERGER, or

v THILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT 'iN vKN|TT|ivcgi-MlxcHlNEs.

spec-mennen vforming part of Letters Patent No. 44.494, lated september 21., 18ct.

To all whom it may concern..L

Be 1t known that we, JOHN THORNTON,

' J Mns THORNTON, and WILLIAM THORNTON,-

all of Nottingham, England, manufacturers,

subjects of the Queen of Great Britain, have r.invented 4or discovered, conjointly with AL- naar THoNNToNsince deceased', new and useful Improvements in .an Apparatus Used for Producingl Looped Fabrics ,L 'and we,` the said JOHN THORNTON, J Mns THORNTON, and

WILLIA THORNTON, do ,hereby declare the nature ofthe invention, for and iuiwhat manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the vfollowing statement thereofthat is to say:

This invention has for its .object improvements in apparatus used for producing looped fabrics. For these purposes two sets of hooks or loopinginstruments are used, and it is prel` ferred that each hook should be of a triangular s'hape-Lthat'is, that the. point of the hook .should be sharp, and thenw-iden out till it Vjoins its stem. The. hooks of the two sets are set toward or facing each other, and so that they near] touch as they lslide to and fro.

`The hook 'are carried by slid-ing bolts. It isl preferred that the machine should be circular,

, and that the bolts carrying the hooks should be arranged to slide to and from the center of .the circle. -The two sets of hooks may be arranged to'revolve about a vertical or horizontalaxis. When the machine revolves about a vertical central axis, the=two sets of hooks will be in two horizontal parallel planes very near together, and the two hooks of each pair willbearranged one luider the other. It is' preferred that the tw'o sets of hooks should rotate together, while the threadcarriers or f instruments which supply the threads (placed nt intervals 'around the circle) should be stationary. The threadfca'rriers .or instruments are di'erent for the two sets of hooks. The.'

sliding ofthe bolts of the hooks is by cams or suitable surfaces, which, when the two sets of hooks are caused to rotatc, are stationary.-

" The sliding bolts of the hooks are all inde pendent, so thattheholts of-each pair of hooks can be slid to and froimlependently of each otlier,`and there is a separate set of cam-surfaces for each set. of hooks. The sinkers -or blades between which both lsets of hooks work rotate with ,thelgooks In the center of the machine is a tubular passage, through which the work as it isproduced is drawn. Near the sinkers there are inclines or fixed brackets,

which are so formed that the work, in passing from the hooks to the tubular passage, is bent ont.V of a straight line byfparts of the inclin'es,

line between ,the end ofthe tubular passa-ge, and the hooks. There are four such brackets f .and incliues used, and four thread-carriers or instruments forsupplyin g threads to the hooks; but this may -be varied. In working, theloops produced by, o'ne set of hooks *are constantly drawn through" the loops produced by the other set of hooks. J

And in order that our said invention may be most fully understood and readily carried into edect; .we will proceed to describe the drawings hereunto annexed, which-'represent a circular machine, to be operatedwith the plane of the circle in a vertical position;

. vIn the* drawings, Figure l -is a front view, or it may be a plan, in case the machine be set horizontally, and Fig. 2 is atransverse section,

of a machineor apparatus for producinglooped fabrics, arranged acci'ding to our invention.

a'a and b b are two sets ot'vhooks or loopinginstruments, placed face to face and close, the one to the other. The form of one of these hooks orl instruments is clearly shown at Figs. 1 and 4. The hooks a and b are fixed on slid is or bolts a a b' bl, and these have projections a2 a2 b b2 upon them for the stationary cams c and d to act upon. The slides or bolts a' b work in radial grooves cut or formed'in the revolving plate e.. These grooves are more clearly seen in-Fig. 3, which is a view'simlar to Fig. 1, but with the working and some other parts removed.

f f are blades or sink'ers, arranged round iu a circle, and having the hooks or looping-in` struinents between them. The sinlcersf are fixed in a holdin g-ring, g, screwed to theplatc c.

h h are'the two thread carriers vor guides at the front ofthe machine. .They are stationary, aud have eyes at their ends, through which theyaru to supply the machine is led. At

the back ofthe machine, or on the other side of. the hooks or looping-instruinents, there are other similar thrcad-carriers,z i.

j j are :lixed inclines at the front ot' the machine,'and which' are employed to press thework toward the back at the Ipoints required` and k k are other similar inclines at theback ofthe machine, employed to press the worky toward the front.

l lis a tube through which the finished work is led away. 1t is .screwed toa bracket, m, which is itself fixed to the stationary ring n, vin which the ring c revolves. .i f

ternately drawn back and protrnded by thel action of cams c and d. The front hooks orlinstruments, a, are Worked by the cam e. The bolt a of every alternate hook or instrument a. has two projections, a2, upon it, so that the cam moves them both to and fro. The other hooks or instrumenten, for a purpose which we will presently explain, have only one projection, a?, on its holtsa..l but these are kept up to the outer circumference ofthe cam o by the guide-platt-l ,r,- so .that all the hooks or instruments a. make, usually, similar motions in workingr a coursc.- The back hooks or vinstruments, o, are worked vby the camd.l Their bolts b arehowever, eac-h made with'but one projection, b?, upon it enthe outer side ot' the cam, and these are kept up to the cani by the' guide-plate. s. t

In working a course the action of the parts is as follows: Suppose thc work, in commencing, to he on the front hooks, then in working the course the work is first pressed back by one of the inclines j. This extends or opens the loop on the hook or instrumenta, and the hook or instrument h is thrown forward through the said loop.- In this position,'i'n which the parts are shown in the diagram, Fig. 4, the hooks pass underthe eye of the thread-carrier. The hook b then returns, and in returning catches the thread ard draws a. loop of it through the loop previously onthe hook a. The said hook athen immediately inovesforward and throws ott' thev old loop. For the nent course, the work being in' the hooks or instruments b, one of the back inolines, lr, presses the worklforward, and the hook or instrument a is thrown forward through the loop. It receives thread from a back thread-` carrier, as' before, and retires, and the hooks b move forward tothrow oft the old loop. Thus the work proceeds, the courses being worked alternately by the front and back'hooks.

The object of making every alternate bolt different in some respects fronrtheir fellows is for the purpose of making tuck-work. To

do this each alternate hook or instrinuent. is

made to discharge its loop just before com-- niencing to work the course, and for this Durpose they are made .to receive a movement forward. This is done by taking removable pieces out ofthe cams c and d at the points cx'and d, and other inclines, which we haie l not thought it necessary to show, are applied to cause the 'alternate bolts to follow into the i nden tations so produced, the projection oi2 and b2 of each alternate bolt being` leugthened so as to be caught by the additional inclines thus applied. -r

vHaving thus described thelnature of ourinvention und the manner of performing` the same, we would have it understood that we do not confine ourselves to exact details; but f 'What we claim isv The arranging apparatus for rproducing,r looped fabrics as. above described-that is to say, with, two sets of hooks or `loopinginstrnthe corresponding hooks or instruments of theother set and in returning drawing back loops of thread through them, the course being completed by the hooks having the old loopsA throwing them ofi', l

' JOHN THORNTON.

JAMES THORNTON.

' WILLIAM THORNTON. William Il'hor-nton, Sole Erccutor'and Resid- *ucn'g/'Legatee of Albert Thornton, deceased.

Witnesses:

NOAHv LEoro LD, f

Solicitor, Nottingham.'` I J. BLACK, l

Attorncys Clerk, Nottinghmnl J QHN THoMrsoN BREws'risR',

:Not/(ry Public, Nottingham. 

